plus, the world cup continues in australia and new zealand, with some teams making history. we'll take you live to sydney. a former us marine, who was wrongfully detained in russia then freed in a prisoner swap last year, has been injured while fighting in ukraine. the bbc�*s partner cbs news confirmed that trevor reed suffered a laceration to an extremity and is being treated at a military facility in germany. in april of 2022, mr reed was freed by russia in a prisoner swap. he was convicted in russia of endangering the lives of two police officers while visiting moscow in 2019. reed is scheduled to begin studying at georgetown university next month. earlier, the us state

department sought to distance the government from reed's actions. mr reed was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the us government and as i indicated we have been incredibly clear, warning american citizens and nationals not to travel to ukraine, let alone participate in fighting there. meanwhile, the us announced a new aid package for ukraine totalling $400 million. the us department of defense said the aid including air defense missiles, armoured vehicles and small drones. this marks the 43rd security assistance package approved by the united states for ukraine. since russia's invasion in 2022, the us has provided more than $15 billion in military aid to ukraine. this news comes as lawmakers in russia raise the maximum conscription age for men from 27 to 30. last week, the maximum age at which reservists can be called up was raised as well, meaning some men will now be

considered available for military service until they are 55. a federaljudge vacated former army sergeant bowe bergdahl�*s conviction and dishonorable discharge on tuesday. bergdahl left his post in afghanistan and was captured by the taliban in 2009. he was held captive for nearly five years, and was repeately tortured during that time. bergdahl was returned to the us in a prisoner swap for five taliban leaders in 2014. in 2017, bergdahl pled guilty to desertion and misbehavior. he was dishonorably discharged and ordered to forfeit $10,000 in pay. bergdahl�*s conviction and sentence had been narrowly upheld by military appeals courts before his lawyers took the case to us district court, resulting in tuesday's ruling. taiwan is bracing for what could be the strongest typhoon to hit the island in four years. the typhoon, named doksuri, is headed towards taiwan and the philippines. taiwan's weather bureau has issued warnings for strong winds and heavy rains. it's forced taiwan to cancel

parts of its annual military drills that began monday. the drills test taiwan's defences in case of an attack from china. this year's tests were set to simulate a response to an attack on its main airport and a china—led blockade. one such drill is ongoing, despite the expected typhoon. i spoke with bbc�*s rupert wingfield—hayes who has been given exclusive access to one of these exercises. tell us more how the jewels are simulating and how extensive they. —— the drills. yeah, you can see from where i'm standing on this rooftop overlooking taiwan's international airport that the typhoon is doing a lot of interference with the military exercises here, the winds are getting very strong. we have just seen in the last half—hour a mock attack on the airport behind me here using attack helicopters and assault helicopters landing troops here on the runway behind me, simulating an attack by china across the taiwan strait and landing here trying to seize the international airport.

in the last few minutes you can see the troops moving around on the ground, taiwanese troops repelling that simulated attack. a gun battle happening on the ground here behind me. of course, this is all a show, this is all for practice, it is not real. but the interesting thing about this is it is very much inspired by what happened in ukraine last year when the russian invasion happened and russian forces attempted to seize an airport outside kyiv in the first few hours of that invasion and to use that to bring in more forces, that assault repelled and the russian attack on kyiv ultimately failed. what the taiwanese have learned from that is that if ever there is an attack on taiwan by china this is how it will happen. they will attempt to seize key infrastructure like the international airport. and that's why they closed down the airport behind me here this morning, completely, for the first time ever to carry out this kind of practice to get troops to know how to repel an attack

on something like this. and, rupert, what has china's response been? well, if you like, this is a response to what china has been doing. because if you remember, think back to this time last year, nancy pelosi, the house speaker, was visiting taiwan and it caused a huge response from beijing, from china, and it held the biggest ever military exercises around taiwan, both naval and air exercises that went on for many days. they fired ballistic missiles over the top of taiwan into the pacific ocean. it was a real attempt to intimidate taiwan and say, "we will not accept you having closer relations "with united states, we will accept you having more "diplomatic close ties with other countries, "because we do not consider you to be a country." and if you like, since then, in the last 12 months taiwan has been taking that much more seriously, taking the threat from china much more seriously and taking its own defence more seriously. and i think this exercise this week, what the taiwanese

government and its military are saying to the people of taiwan and, if you like, to the united states and other allies is, "we are now very serious about our defence, "we are going to spend more, we're to increase the length "of military service, we are going to do much more "realistic practising to defend our island like this today." and they're showing to us, the media, and saying, "if you ever doubted we would defend our island then "don't, because we will." rupert, thank you very much for reporting. chinese state media are reporting that the country's foreign minister, qin gang, has been removed from his post after less than seven months on the job. he has not been seen in public for a month. a statement mentioning an apparent health problem has since been wiped from the record. an official statement named china's top diplomat, wang yi, as his replacement. the us house of representatives�* select committee on china is looking into us investments in chinese technology companies. the committee sent letters to four us venture capital firms expressing concern over investments in artificial intelligence, quantam computing, and other advanced

technologies. i spoke to the ranking member on the committee, democratic congressman raja krishnamoorthi, about the investigation earlier. great to have you with us in the studio. the house select committee on china has been looking into us venture capital firms who are investing in chinese tech, particularly in regards to ai. what are the investments that most concern you? investments that go into ai and quantum computing or semiconductors because what we found is that some of those companies that american venture capital firms have invested in are also involved in military—civilfusion endeavours and also endeavours to crack down on the uighurs or to surveil people and dissidents. we do not want our money going into ventures that could harm our interests or values. what is the exact concern? in regard to our national security interest,

some of that al and quantum computing and semiconductor technology is going into hypersonic missiles or into their nuclear programme or other ways that harm our interest, so we want to be careful about that as well. what are these companies saying about the investments? some have responded and others are saying, well, the people who made those investments left the company a long time ago. others say we have exited from those investments completely so we are still gathering the information, it is done on a voluntary basis right now but we are looking forward to further cooperation. i want to ask about the large policy landscape because the white house is considering an executive order that restricts firms from investing in china but we have also seen two us senators working on legislation to track investment in china and democratic senator bob casey said the following:

are you concerned that competing initiatives with the white house with one approach, senators with another, that they may not create a big bureaucratic hurdles for american companies looking to invest abroad? this is one of those areas where there is bipartisanship in the sense that, and bicameral bipartisanship so republicans democrats in the house and the senate are working along with the white house on what is sensible legislation and policy going forward so i think that is a good thing but, yes, we do not want a situation where we create confusion or regulatory hurdles that make it even more difficult to understand what you should be doing and should not be doing. so we need to be cautious about that. how can that be done? what approach should be taken to make sure the approaches are streamlined? we have to make sure that we are consulting

with the white house on what they think is the right path forward and we are also consulting with the senate. i think it is fair to say that the committees ofjurisdiction in the house and the senate are working together on this and the white house is obviously giving its input so hopefully we can come up with something sensible. in the news we see that the foreign minister of china has been replaced after not being seen for a month. what does this mean for us efforts to stabilise the relationship with china? good question. we don't know what will happen in regard to the policy although the person just removed was also a wolf warrior diplomat. he was extremely hawkish in tone towards the united states so if his replacement is a little less hawkish that may be a good thing. but we don't know yet how the policy is going to change. the newly appointed

minister is highly trusted by the president and very able and i am not sure that there will be big changes but i think all of this illustrates the opacity and the lack of transparency that the chinese government has and how you just don't know what the heck is going on sometimes within the ccp. it is not exactly a liberal democratic organisation. i want to ask about russia's war in ukraine and we see the white house confirmed today that trevor reid, who was freed last yearfrom russia, was injured while fighting in ukraine in the white house warned us citizens about the risk of getting involved in fighting in ukraine. is it appropriate for him to be fighting there? individual american citizens felt so strongly and feel so strongly about the war in ukraine that they are going to go and do what their heart commands and i don't think we will be able to stop that. obviously, we have our advisories and so forth

in place which urges caution but at the same time, you know, we have a tremendous amount of passion behind the positions supporting ukraine, even in places like my own constituency, which has a huge ukrainian—american population. congressmen, i also want to ask about president biden announcing the establishment of a national monument to emmett till in both illinois and mississippi. what does this mean to illinois? emmett till was from chicago. he was murdered in august 1955 when he was visiting his family down south. and as you know his mother, after his murder, she made the courageous decision to have an open casket in chicago during his funeral so that the world could see how this mob had so disfigured her son out

of hatred and in some ways it catalysed the civil rights movement. it shocked the conscience of a nation that such discrimination and bigotry and prejudice could lead to the death of this young boy in this manner. and, so, i think it is very important, obviously, for illinois, where the family was from but also for the south, and contrast that with what you are seeing in florida where they are actually passing laws that say that it is ok to teach our children, teach children in florida, that slavery somehow benefited african—americans and you will see a significance of reminding people of the history of what has happened to african—americans in this country. thank you very much forjoining us. president biden designated the creation of a national monument to emmett till and his mother in an event at the white house attended by members of his family and civil rights leaders. till was a black

teenager whose lynching in the 1950s galvanized the civil rights movement. the 14—year—old was tortured, murdered and his body was dumped in a river in mississippi after a white shopkeeper said he whistled at her. no one was ever convicted. the announcement came on what would have been till�*s 85th birthday. earlier i spoke with deborah watts, emmett till�*s cousin, and the co—founder of the emmett till legacy foundation. thank you so much forjoining us in our studio today. what does the national monument mean to you? it means that the story and the name and the sacrifices, the nature in which emmett was murdered, that that story will be told, that those places that are being preserved will be protected. they are part of the journey from the life and legacy of emmett till and his mother, and it is important that our american

history has this piece and this moment in time as one that we can all remember. it is a sad story, it is a story of pain but from what i call from tragedy to triumph and that is where we sit today. but we want to make sure that people remember emmett and remember the sacrifice, understand the story and the truth behind it so that is what this means today for my family and i. at the ceremony, president biden said this: "only with truth comes healing, justice repair and another step forward towards the forming a more perfect union. is this a step towards healing and a sense ofjustice? well, i think, to be very honest with you, healing is going to require a lot. we had a bill passed, the victim recoveries programme

and that means that there needs to be an intentional piece of therapy targeted towards impacted families including ours so that, we cannot ignore that, that is important. what should that look like? in terms of the therapy? it should be professional, that people have an opportunity to share their pain, raw pain, then have an opportunity to be on that journey towards healing. it will be a journey for many of the families. my family along with the others. but i think it is towards that, it is towards that. but justice, there is nothing you can compare with having to justice. that didn't apply in this case from a judicial perspective. but we try to turn our tragedy into triumph and that means we're still going to be on the struggle towards

truth, justice, and accountability, and work with other impacted families as well. maybe we didn't get the justice that we were achieving or trying to achieve but it does also mean that we still have a lot of work to do in this country and we will be committed to making that happen. committed to making that ha en. ., committed to making that hauen. ., ., , ., committed to making that hat-en. ., ., , ., happen. how does today impact that? the day — happen. how does today impact that? the day is _ happen. how does today impact that? the day is a _ happen. how does today impact that? the day is a beginning. i that? the day is a beginning. it is overdue, _ that? the day is a beginning. it is overdue, but _ that? the day is a beginning. it is overdue, but emmett's i it is overdue, but emmett's name goes down in history, the way it will go down in history today, that is a permanent peace, i think, today, that is a permanent peace, ithink, that today, that is a permanent peace, i think, that we could not have imagined, actually, but it also means that the story will be told, that the journey that emmett was on, which includes additional sites that are in addition to what happened in chicago and the other two sites that they had, and will be on thatjourney in august, which will be the 60th anniversary of emmett till�*s motor. and we are taking people

on a tears, truth, and terror educational tour to visit the sites and others. —— emmett till�*s murder. sites and others. -- emmett till's murder.— sites and others. -- emmett till's murder. there was also talk of the — till's murder. there was also talk of the burning _ till's murder. there was also talk of the burning of - till's murder. there was also talk of the burning of books | talk of the burning of books and varied history in the country. it was said that the country. it was said that the country has a long way to go forjustice. do you agree? i do auree. forjustice. do you agree? i do agree- the _ forjustice. do you agree? i do agree. the burning _ forjustice. do you agree? i do agree. the burning of - forjustice. do you agree? i if agree. the burning of books is an attempt to hide the history and our true nature in america. i believe we need to fight for the truth to be told and fired for a way forward. if we don't deal with that history, that raw history, there is nowhere for us to go. and so that can't be raised and banning books is not the way to go. and one of the things that i often think about and that is how i learnt about and that is how i learnt about my own history, and i didn't learn in school, unfortunately, but i learned at the seat of my great—grandparents. i learned at my church with different

organisations. and so i think that means that all of us have a role to play in order to make sure the truth is told about our history and that we have a way to move forward. we cannot move forward unless we understand where we have been. and our youth have to be a part of the telling of those stories that my —— might make great juvenile. that my -- might make great 'uvenile. ., that my -- might make great 'uvenile. . , . juvenile. the anti- lynching bill passed. _ juvenile. the anti- lynching bill passed. and _ juvenile. the anti- lynching bill passed. and you - juvenile. the anti- lynching bill passed. and you said i juvenile. the anti- lynching i bill passed. and you said you could exhale. what else do you want to see happen to honour the legacy?— the legacy? the full story and the legacy? the full story and the complement _ the legacy? the full story and the complement of— the legacy? the full story and the complement of the - the legacy? the full story and the complement of the story | the complement of the story needs to be told. i think more people need to know about the sacrifice, the kind of woman

who mamie till was. the additional sites need to have recognition as well. also, having peoplejoin recognition as well. also, having people join us on these anniversaries, because i think it gives us an opportunity to talk about what happened, to use our authentic voices and our platforms and join up with other groups and organisations so that they can carry that story forward. and also connecting with young people. it is so important that wherever we are, whatever walk of life where income in, that they are understanding our journey and understanding how they can play a part moving forward as well.— they can play a part moving forward as well. thank you so much for _ forward as well. thank you so much for sharing _ forward as well. thank you so much for sharing your - much for sharing your perspective with us today. thank you for having me. i appreciated. ——i appreciate it. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. :: , . , different stories from across the uk. :: , ., ., different stories from across the uk. ii, ., ., different stories from across theuk, ii, ., ., ., ., the uk. 20 years ago you had to head south _ the uk. 20 years ago you had to head south to _ the uk. 20 years ago you had to head south to see _ the uk. 20 years ago you had to head south to see these - the uk. 20 years ago you had to

head south to see these birds. l head south to see these birds. black winged stilt. a slightly liberal name, for what is undoubtedly one of the world the most elegant birds. aha, the most elegant birds. a wildlife presenter brought them to our screens from spain. now there in kent. the pair arrived from africa back in spring and now four chicks have pledged on marshland. the site has been designed for wading birds that might be moving north. more than 600 acres of former arable farmland transformed over the past five years into a wildlife haven. the marsh site is one of a number of places the rspb avenue been preparing for a new arrivals, making space for nature as our climate changes. you are watching bbc news.

the chief executive of the british bank natwest has resigned after admitting she was the source of an inaccurate bbc story about a high—profile banking client. dame alison rose had passed on information about the private dealings of the right—wing former leader of the brexit party, nigel farage. she said his account with the bank's exclusive private arm, coutts, was closed because he no longer met the wealth threshold for it. but mr farage later secured a coutts report that said his political views were also considered. that is just coming into us here. the women's world cup continues in austraila and new zealand. the group stages continue with japan taking on costa rica, spain play tournament debutants zambia, and olympic gold medallists canada face off against ireland. live now to our correspondent katie silver in sydney. i want to start with the big upset, the philippines beating new zealand. how the home team fans reacting today? this new zealand. how the home team fans reacting today?—

fans reacting today? as you can imauine, fans reacting today? as you can imagine. they _ fans reacting today? as you can imagine, they are _ fans reacting today? as you can | imagine, they are disappointed. there was a lot of enthusiasm and excitement, almost this time last week, when they beat norway, the football ferns, securing new zealand's first—ever win at a world cup across 15 different matches. definitely some disappointment there. but there is no disappointment in the filipino camp. this is the philippines�* first—ever world cup, the first debutante nation at this world cup to score, with eight teams that have never played in a world cup before competing in this tournament. to give you an idea, play—by—play, comedy goal was scored by sarina bolden, a filipina us citizen, born in santa clara, california, sorry about halfway through the game. the philippines team then staved off about 15 different attacks on the new zealand team. 0ne almost went in, but later by var one player was found of side. but sarina bolden, she said that her philippine mum at her office in california was telling all of

her frequent —— california was telling all of herfrequent —— filipino her frequent —— filipino colleagues herfrequent —— filipino colleagues that her daughter managed to score the winning goalfor the philippines. aha, goal for the philippines. a lovely story there. all right, katie, and looking to today, what are you watching, what are you watching out for?— you watching out for? there are two matches — you watching out for? there are two matches that _ you watching out for? there are two matches that are _ you watching out for? there are two matches that are likely - i two matches that are likely — there in a group whereby there are two strong favourites, spain playing jamaica, and japan playing against costa rica. both japan and spain scored very well in their first games, three and five goals respectively. the other two, the underdogs, were 0—0, scoring nothing in theirfirst games. those games shouldn�*t be too controversial, but it is a world cup and nobody ever knows how things will go. the tighter mat will be canada, former gold—medallist at the olympics, against ireland. i saw ireland playing as the matildas. they are a strong team. this could prove a tight competition with canada slightly in front. they

are expected to win. but as i say, who knows? mil are expected to win. but as i say, who knows?— are expected to win. but as i say, who knows? all right. some interesting _ say, who knows? all right. some interesting action _ say, who knows? all right. some interesting action ahead. - say, who knows? all right. some interesting action ahead. we - interesting action ahead. we will let you check out the games. 0ur correspondent katie silver reporting on the latest in sydney. katie, thank you so much. that is our show at this hour. thank you for watching bbc news. don�*t forget you can find more information on all our top stories including the breaking news story be just what you on our website, news story be just what you on ourwebsite, bbc.com, news story be just what you on our website, bbc.com, with plenty of analysis for you there as well. you can also had to twitter for the latest headlines there. that is all for us. we leave you with my pictures of london as we head off to our colleagues there. they will be back at the top of the next hour. thank you for watching. hello, there. here in the uk, it was another quite cool day on tuesday. by contrast, southern europe, in sicily, temperatures reached 46 degrees. this is the temperature anomaly map. the blues are where it�*s colder than normal, the reds are where it�*s hotter

than normal, and the heat is really getting squeezed down towards the southeast of europe. a significant drop in temperature on the way across italy in the next 2a, 48 hours. the heat lasts a bit longer in greece, but even here, it will be cooler by the end of the weekend, not as windy, either. some northern parts of europe have been seeing severe storms. here in the uk, our weather continues to come in from the atlantic, and that cloud that we saw there is going to bring some rain into western areas on wednesday. further east, maybe a little bit warmer than it was on tuesday. but it will be a chilly start, where we have the clearer skies — three degrees in scotland, six or seven across some southern parts of england and wales. in between, not quite so cold, first thing, because there�*ll be more cloud, showers left over from overnight. most of the showers

on wednesday will be across northern england, perhaps southern scotland, not as widespread as we saw today. there will be some sunshine, but it does cloud over from the west. rain in northern ireland by lunchtime, over the irish sea into wales and the south—west of england during the afternoon. that�*ll keep the temperatures a bit lower. but ahead of that, with some sunshine for a while across scotland, eastern england, temperatures should be a bit higher than what we had on tuesday. now, this weather front will take that rain eastwards on wednesday night. it means a lot warmer night, actually, but it means quite a cloudy start to thursday and a bit misty and murky as well. could hang on to the rain from overnight across northern scotland. it may well linger through the english channel, but elsewhere, as it slowly brightens up and we see a little bit of sunshine, that could trigger a few more sharp showers through the day. there will be a lot of cloud around. it�*ll feel quite muggy, actually. a warmer day for western areas, and again, in the east, temperatures about 23 degrees. quick look ahead to friday, still got the chance of some showers around, maybe not quite so many. quite a bit of cloud here and there, as well, and those temperatures, not really changing an awful lot, still making 23, perhaps 2a in eastern areas, maybe a bit cooler for western

scotland and northern ireland, certainly cooling off then across southern parts of europe. but what about here in the uk? 0ur weather is not changing too much, still dominated by low pressure, as we head into the weekend, with the wetter weather across northern parts of the uk.

this is bbc news. we�*ll have the headlines

and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk, i�*m stephen sackur. holding governments to account for their abuses of human rights is hard. it requires focused, forensic investigation, impartiality, and no little courage. for six decades, amnesty international has been advocating for prisoners of conscience in the face of state repression. but in recent times, it�*s both broadened its focus, and faced unprecedented criticism. my guest is agnes callamard, secretary general of amnesty international. is amnesty facing a credibility crisis? agnes callamard, welcome to hardtalk.